Harry's Healing Practice
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: While Harry is in the hospital wing after a Quidditch accident, Poppy falls ill and Harry has to care for her. Who will be there to help him? AU, partly OOC, sick!Harry


**Harry's Healing Practice**

Harry lazily opened his eyes and groaned, noticing that his potions had apparently worn off since he had a splitting headache. The day before yesterday he had fallen from his broom right after catching the Snitch, assuring the Quidditch cup for Gryffindor in his third year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unfortunately, he had not only broken two ribs, which were already healed, but had received a bad concussion, resulting in a headache accompanied by nausea and a fever. Under the influence of the potions he had felt so well the evening before that he had begged Madam Pomfrey to release him but had been told he had to stay in his bed in the hospital wing at least until his fever was completely gone. Moreover, the Healer had forbidden him to do any magic for at least a week.

Harry carefully turned his head to throw a glance at his alarm clock, seeing to his surprise that the first class was already going to begin. '_Where is Madam Pomfrey?_' he wondered. '_Normally she is around here much earlier, pestering me with potions and breakfast_.'

A few minutes later, Poppy entered the room, heading straight over to Harry. "I'm sorry, dear, have you been awake for long?" she asked, giving him an apologizing look while she sat down on the chair next to Harry's bed.

"No, it's all right, I just woke up," Harry answered quietly.

"How are you feeling today?" Poppy asked and put her hand on Harry's forehead.

Harry let out a huge gasp. "Madam Pomfrey, are you all right? Your hand is very hot."

Poppy sighed. "Yes, I'm a bit under the weather, and I'm afraid that I've caught the wizards' flu. That's why I'm so late; I just went to St. Mungo's and had a friend give me a quick check-up since I cannot do magic on myself." She sighed again. "I am sorry, but I'm not allowed to do any magic as long as I have such a high fever. Therefore, I can only examine you with Muggle methods."

Harry frowned. "I'm fine; I only need something against my headache. Why don't you lie down in the bed next to mine, so that I can care for you while you're feeling so bad? You won't get better if you continue running around here."

"Well, Mr. Potter, I'm afraid I have to lie down. However, I have to put a parchment outside the door to direct anyone heading here to Professor Snape, so he can help them. I have already contacted him. Then I must examine you and give you your potions and breakfast…"

"No," Harry interrupted her firmly, "please lie down immediately. I'll write the parchment for you." He quickly scrambled out of bed, swaying a little, and hurried to Poppy's office, where he found parchment and a quill. He wrote the note in his best writing and put it at the door to the hospital wing before he returned to his bed, sighing in relief when he lay down his head.

In the meantime, Poppy had returned to her private quarters and changed into pyjamas. She gathered a few things and sat down on the bed next to Harry, watching him in concern. "Mr. Potter, I'm sorry, but as I told you I'm not allowed to do magic at the moment," she apologized before she asked him to open his mouth and stuck a thermometer into his mouth.

Harry shivered slightly as he felt the ice-cold thing in his mouth and groaned inwardly, but knowing that Poppy was very ill herself he for once didn't complain. He closed his eyes, trying to think of something else, but his head was too sore to gather his thoughts. After a time, which seemed to drag on endlessly, Poppy finally took out the thermometer and sighed when she placed it on the night table. "Thirty-eight point eight; that's still quite a fever for the early morning, Mr. Potter," she informed him and placed two phials on Harry's night table before she returned to her bed and slipped under the covers.

Harry gratefully gulped down the potions and relaxed visibly when he felt the effect. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," he said thankfully and scrambled out of bed to step over to her bedside. He hesitantly extended a hand to feel her forehead that felt very hot. "Shouldn't we take your temperature as well? If I have a fever, then yours must be very high," he asked hesitantly.

"Yes, I know; it was forty point eight when my friend checked on me. But that reminds me, you have to eat breakfast." Ignoring Harry's contradictions about not being hungry, she called a house elf and ordered breakfast for Harry. "Please sit down and eat; afterwards I want you to lie down and rest and stay in bed at any case," she ordered him. "I'm going to sleep for a while if that's all right with you."

"Of course," Harry replied and watched the Healer close her eyes, before he went into her office to retrieve a cloth and a bowl with ice-cold water. He pulled the chair over to her bedside and began to carefully sponge her hot face, just like Poppy had done it for him the day before.

A few hours later, Minerva entered the hospital wing to look after her friend and her student during lunchtime and couldn't help smiling at the sight. Harry was holding a cloth onto Poppy's forehead, resting his head on the edge of her bed, fast asleep. "Mr. Potter," she whispered as not to wake Poppy up and slightly shook Harry's shoulder, frowning because he still felt hot to the touch.

Harry lazily opened his eyes while Poppy woke up at the same time. "Minerva, has Severus put the spell on you so that you won't get the flu from me? Otherwise you have to leave immediately," she told her friend excitedly, sounding very hoarse and sore. "Bad enough that we can't cast such a strong spell on Mr. Potter due to his concussion," she continued, uncharacteristically slurring the words.

"Yes, he has," Minerva replied calmingly, while Harry adjusted the newly wetted cloth to Poppy's forehead.

"Have you been sitting here all the time? Thank you very much, Mr. Potter, but you really have to lie down and rest," Poppy croaked, trying to give the boy a weak glare that didn't impress him at all.

"Now, Harry, you heard Madam Pomfrey, and since I'll be here during lunchtime, you can return to your bed," Minerva ordered the child sternly.

"All right," Harry agreed and stood up, holding onto the night table for a moment until a bout of dizziness passed.

Minerva gave him a concerned look and helped him back into bed, tucking him in carefully before she returned to her friend, who gave her a few whispered instructions. Minerva went into Poppy's office and retrieved everything she had been asked to. Stepping over to Poppy, she stuck a thermometer into her mouth, stating, "Poppy, don't sulk; that's what you're doing to us and the students all the time."

"No, I go gad with bagic," Poppy talked around the thermometer, earning a glare from her friend.

"Yes, I know you do that with magic, but other than that it's the same," Minerva said sternly, sticking another thermometer in Harry's mouth.

"Go, I'd gide ag I…" Harry protested weekly. "I gade gad."

"Stop it and shut up, both of you," Minerva told them and gently laid a cold cloth on Harry's forehead, while she sat down at the edge of his bed for a moment until she returned to Poppy's side to take the thermometer out, frowning at the result.

"How gag igig?" Harry wanted to know.

"Forty point three, still extremely high," Minerva replied shortly and handed Poppy two potions that she gulped down and relaxed visibly, closing her eyes again. "Thirty-nine point one," Minerva told Harry, reading the temperature from his thermometer. Mr. Potter, you must rest, so your fever comes down. It was very commendable that you looked after Madam Pomfrey the whole morning, and I appreciate it very much, but please don't forget that you're ill as well."

"Yes, I know," Harry replied, gratefully taking the potions his Head of House handed him.

"I'll come back as soon as the last lesson is finished, and later in the evening Professor Snape will look after the two of you," Minerva explained, bathing Harry's hot face with a cool cloth.

"Professor Snape?" Harry gasped, and a horrified expression spread over his face.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, I'm sorry, but I have a meeting with Professor Dumbledore tonight. But I can assure you, Professor Snape is not going to kill you."

Harry lay back, very annoyed, and tiredly closed his eyes. He woke up two hours later due to Poppy's harsh coughs and hurried over to her side. Sitting down on the edge of her bed, he carefully rubbed her back, while she let out more coughs that sounded harsh and painful. When she was finished, he handed her a glass of water, which she drank greedily before handing back the glass to Harry. Afterwards, he helped Poppy lie down and carefully tucked her in before he went to get a fresh bowl of ice-cool water and once more bathed her face with the cool cloth. Poppy gave him a thankful look but whispered, "Go back to bed, Mr. Potter."

"No, I'm already much better," Harry replied, trying to sound as cheerful as possible in spite of his worsening headache. "Don't worry and try to go back to sleep. Tell me if I can do anything for you." Harry spent the whole afternoon at Poppy's side and only went back to his own bed when Minerva returned after classes had finished.

Minerva handed Harry a few letters and presents from his friends. "I'm sorry, Harry, but I had to tell your friends that they couldn't visit you, due to Madam Pomfrey's illness."

"That's all right," Harry replied, giving the teacher a small smile. "Madam Pomfrey forbade me to have visitors at the moment anyway."

Minerva gave him a sharp look. "Did she tell you a reason? Is it because of your fever?"

"I'm not sure but perhaps because of my headache. She told me to lie down and not move unnecessarily."

Minerva snorted. "And you probably spent the whole afternoon next to Madam Pomfrey, caring for her. All right; now, I'm here, so please try to rest or maybe sleep for a while."

"When will Professor Snape come?" Harry asked, feeling very apprehensive about the fact that the teacher, who was always so mean to him, would look after Poppy and him in the evening.

"After dinner, Mr. Potter; and until dinner I'm going to stay here," Minerva replied, before she leaned over to feel Harry's forehead and frowned. "How do you feel, Harry? I have the impression that your condition hasn't improved at all today."

"I'm fine," Harry replied quietly. "Um… Do you know when I can get another headache potion?"

Minerva gave a close look at the card that Poppy had placed on Harry's night table before she glanced at her watch. "You can have your potions either now or later when Professor Snape is here. However, we have to take your temperature before you can get the potions, and as Professor Snape is able to do it magically, maybe you could wait, but I don't know how bad your headache is."

Harry sat up, looking very upset. "No, Professor, please, let's do it now," he said horrified. '_There's no way that I'm going to let Snape check on me_,' he thought, giving Minerva a pleading look.

"As you wish," Minerva said, shaking her head, and took the fever thermometer from the night table and slid it under Harry's tongue, forcing him to groan uncomfortably. Noticing that Harry began to shiver, she took the thermometer out and advised the child, "Lie down and let me tuck you in first."

Harry gratefully lay down and let himself being tucked in before he obediently opened his mouth a second time to take the thermometer in before he lazily closed his sore eyes. After an infinite amount of time had passed, Harry finally felt that Minerva took the annoying thermometer out of his mouth and just started to relax when the teacher let out a deep sigh and told him, "Your fever is still going up. It's thirty-nine point four now. Please try to sleep for the rest of the evening, Harry. You will get another check-up and potion around midnight before Professor Snape leaves you for the night. Do you want to eat dinner now or later, Harry?"

"Later please," Harry mumbled and greedily drank the potions his Head of House handed him. Laying back again, he tried to sleep, but the thought of spending the evening with Snape didn't leave his mind. '_I'm going to spend the evening somewhere else_,' he finally decided, and when Minerva left the hospital wing for dinner, believing that Harry and Poppy were asleep, Harry waited five minutes before he scrambled out of his bed and hurried out of the hospital wing.

He quickly headed through the empty halls up to the owlery, where he exchanged a few words with Hedwig. "I'm sorry, Hedwig, but I have to use a school owl tonight, because the teachers mustn't know that I'm sending a letter, and it's only a letter to the Great Hall anyway. Why don't you go for a nice flight?" he suggested, softly stroking her head feathers, before he quickly wrote a note for his friends on a small piece of parchment he had brought with him for that purpose.

_Dear Hermione, Ginny, and Ron,_

_Can you come to the Room of Requirement immediately after dinner? I'm spending the evening there. Please don't tell anyone._

_Harry._

_P.S. Hermione, can you bring me my school books and our assignments please?_

He gave the letter to one of the school owls and instructed it to take the letter to one of his three friends to the Great Hall immediately. Then he slowly made his way to the seventh floor and paced the floor until a door appeared in the wall. Gladly noticing that the room was just like he had imagined it to be, he lay down on one of the two comfortable looking sofas in front of the huge fireplace that lit and warmed the whole room. Feeling tired, achy, and hot and cold at the same time, Harry closed his eyes and fell into a light slumber, waking up when his friends entered the room, excitedly shouting, "Harry!"

"Hi!" Harry gave his friends a huge smile, but they noticed that it didn't really reach his eyes.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" Ginny asked worried.

Hermione nodded eagerly. "Harry, Professor McGonagall told us that you worsened your condition by looking after Madam Pomfrey the whole day. Do you think running away will make you better?" she asked sternly.

"No," Harry mumbled and explained that Professor Snape was overseeing the hospital wing during the evening. "I just couldn't have him around during the whole evening, especially since I'm not feeling well enough to keep up with his continuous sneering and belittling me."

"Oh, right, then I'd have done the same," Ron reassured Harry, patting his shoulder.

"Ron! How can you say that? Harry…" Hermione began to shout at the boy but was interrupted by Harry.

"Hermione, please don't shout," Harry pleaded quietly, rubbing his forehead. "Sit down and tell me what I've missed."

His friends quickly obeyed, and Harry lay back onto the sofa again, resting his head on Ginny's lap, who carefully stroked his flushed face with her cold hands.

Hermione handed Harry his school bag. "Here, Harry; I've only put a few books in the bag, only for Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, and Defence Against the Dark Arts, and here are my notes from today's classes. I already completed my homework; so you can keep them as long as you need them."

"Thanks Hermione," Harry replied gratefully. '_Maybe I can do some homework tomorrow while Madam Pomfrey is asleep_,' he mused, knowing that he wouldn't be allowed to study if he asked.

"Did Madam Pomfrey say when you can attend classes?" Ginny wanted to know.

Harry sighed. "No, she only said that I can't return to the dormitory until my fever is completely gone and that I mustn't do any magic for at least a full week. It's really annoying how overprotective she is, and McGonagall is not better."

"Oh, Harry," Hermione sighed. "Of course they are very protective of you, knowing how often you end up in the hospital wing and how much your relatives neglect you."

"She's right, Harry," Ron agreed. "When Charlie fell from his broom a few years ago and ended up with broken ribs and a concussion like you, McGonagall Floo-called Mum and she came to visit him every day. She also took Percy home for a week once when he came down with the wizards' flu."

"Hmm," Harry mumbled uncertainly. '_It must be so nice to have a Mum_,' he thought, feeling very alone and sick but also very selfish to nurse such thoughts while his best friends were keeping him company instead of spending a jolly evening in the common room.

_In the meantime in the hospital wing..._

At the same time, Severus entered the hospital wing in a swift pace and strode over to the two occupied beds. While he noticed contentedly that Poppy seemed to be fast asleep, he frowned about the fact that Potter wasn't in his bed. '_Maybe he went to the toilet, so I'll give him two minutes_,' he decided, impatiently pacing the room. Said two minutes later, he checked the washing rooms, finding no sign of Harry. He angrily strode over to the Healer's office, his robes billowing behind him, and put his head into the fireplace.

"Minerva!" he called out, glad when his colleague answered immediately.

"What's wrong, Severus?"

"If that imbecile kills himself it's not my fault; just to let you know, Potter's missing."

"He is WHAT?" Minerva asked incredulously. "He was asleep when I went down to dinner."

"Anyway, he's not here, and frankly speaking I don't care where he is. Let him kill himself, that'll spare me lots of nerves in the Potions classroom as well as a lot of brewing time for all the potions he needs for his injuries."

"Severus!" admonished him harshly. "Do you have any idea where he could have gone?"

Severus snorted. "It is definitely not within the range of my abilities to follow the strange windings of Potter's mind. No, Minerva, I have no idea. However, he should know better than to endanger himself by running around the castle in his condition."

"Maybe he has returned to Gryffindor. I'll go and look for him," Minerva promised concerned and ended the Floo connection.

'_I thought Potter had more brains than that; it's hard to believe that he's Lily's son_,' Severus mused, while his thoughts wandered to his best friend ever, Lily. Absentmindedly, he returned to Poppy's side and quickly checked on her before he took a seat in the far corner of the room, inefficiently trying to shake off his thoughts of Lily. '_Why does that child not understand that all I want is to keep him save and to help him become a person worth of being Lily's son?_' he mused. Not that he was concerned about the boy, but he owed as much to his friend.

_Back in the room of requirement…_

"You really missed something today," Ron blurted out. "The atmosphere in the common room was so dull after your fall with everyone worrying about you that my brothers thought they had to lighten up the mood. Anyway, they gave something to the house-elves to put into the drinks at the Head table this morning…" Seeing that Harry was listening intensely, he continued, "… that made the teachers stutter during the first class. It was a huge success. You know, we had Potions first, and Snape was more or less sulking at his desk, but then…" He laughed for a moment. "… When Neville managed to blow up his cauldron, Snape stood there shouting, 'You i.. i… im… imbe… cile!' It was too funny."

Harry laughed with his friends, regretting that he hadn't been able to attend the class, while Ginny continued, "Then you were lucky. We had Transfiguration, and Professor McGonagall didn't speak a word. She gave us a pop quiz, a very difficult one, and then she transformed into her cat form, jumped onto her desk, and remained there for the rest of the class watching us."

While the others laughed, Ginny complained, "As if it had been our fault," making the others laugh even more.

"Did you receive the Quidditch Cup, by the way?" Harry asked, turning to Ron.

"Yes, McGonagall is keeping it in her office," Ron replied, smiling at Harry.

"Ah, that's good, and did you have a huge party on Saturday night?"

"No," Hermione spoke up, "everyone was much too shocked about your accident that they decided to wait until you're back."

"Maybe we can do it this Saturday. It's a Hogsmeade weekend, and the twins promised to buy butterbeer for our party, together with the other team members," Ron cheered.

Harry smiled, glad to be together with his friends, but he was getting incredibly tired, and in the middle of the conversation his eyes closed and his breathing evened out. The three Gryffindors watched over their sleeping friend until it was nearly time for curfew. Hermione looked worriedly at Harry. "We have to go back; it's nearly curfew. But what are we going to do with Harry? Can we leave him here alone? The teachers will be worried about him, and he's really sick."

"He's burning up," Ginny added, concern written over her face.

"Let him here; at least he's asleep. When McGonagall asks us, we can tell her that we know where he is and that he's safe," Ron suggested. "And in the morning, we come here in the first place and check on him. Now let's go back to the common room."

The girls grudgingly complied after placing a pillow under Harry's head and covering him with a blanket that they found in the cupboard, tucking him in carefully. Harry slept undisturbed until he fell into a fever induced nightmare, shivering badly.

_Harry was sitting in the Potions classroom between Ron and Hermione, waiting for the teacher to arrive. After Professor Snape entered the classroom with a loud 'bang,' the teacher told them what they had to do, but he was stuttering so much that Harry couldn't follow the explanations. Glancing to Hermione, he somehow tried to copy his friend's every movement, not noticing that the teacher had transformed into a snake and curled up on his desk. Suddenly, the snake moved towards Harry and he heard a hissing voice, "__What do you think you're doing? Do you want to kill us all? But that's typical; a Potter always thinks he is something special and can do what he wants__." _

_Harry jumped up from his seat and anxiously backed up until he reached the classroom door and left the room, running through the empty halls of the castle while the snake followed him all the time. Finally, he was too worn out and stumbled down on the floor, not caring anymore that the snake reached him, putting its head on his leg. "__Detention with me every evening for the next twenty years__," it hissed, glaring at the frightened child._

Finally, Harry woke up with a jolt. The fireplace still lit the room, so that he could get a glance on his watch, which told him that it was two o'clock in the morning. '_Oh, then I can go back to the hospital wing;_ _otherwise Madam Pomfrey will be worried, if I'm not there when she wakes up_,' Harry thought relieved, remembering that Minerva had told him Snape would go to bed around midnight. He slowly got up, keeping the warm blanket around his shoulders, and leisurely walked down to the hospital wing, trying to walk close to the walls since he felt very dizzy. Not a hundred percent sure if the professor had really left for the night and in order not to wake up Poppy, Harry opened the door to the hospital wing very carefully and quickly looked around. Except for Poppy the room seemed to be empty, and he let out a relieved sigh while he tiredly stumbled over to his bed, more grateful to be able to lie down that he could remember being ever before.

Harry was so glad to rest his head that felt as if it had been overrun by a herd of Hippogriffs and close his eyes, which were sore due to his high fever, that he didn't notice a tall figure step out of the shadows, quickly casting a Silencing spell around Poppy's bed and pointing a wand at him.

Only the ice-cold voice of an angry Professor Snape could pull Harry back from sleep. "What do you think you're doing, Potter? Always trying to attract attention, even by roaming the castle with forty degrees of fever, you dunderhead. Are you trying to kill yourself?" he hissed.

Harry turned away from the menacing glare as fast as he could move his achy head. "No Mr. Potter, you will listen to me. Running around with such a bad concussion as yours can cause brain damage," the teacher spat. "Not that it would be a pity," he mumbled, not caring if Harry heard what he said. "Tomorrow morning you will start to write five hundred times, '_I will not undo Madam Pomfrey's work by being stupid and putting myself into danger_'." He placed a parchment on Harry's night table and pointed his wand at it so that the sentence appeared once. "Five hundred times, and without magic of course; do you understand me, Potter?"

"Yes sir," Harry mumbled weakly, already drifting back to sleep.

Severus sighed and worriedly watched the child in front of him while he pulled the strongest fever reducer he had in stock as well as Harry's normal headache potion out of his robe pockets and spelled both directly into the boy's stomach. Then he sat down on the chair between the two beds, noticing that the boy seemed to relax even in his sleep. He quickly pointed his wand at the child's head to check his temperature once more and nodded contentedly seeing that the fever was coming down nicely.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

In the morning, Minerva entered the hospital wing with a worried expression on her face. Severus had called her late in the night so inform her about Harry's return and his condition. When she approached the two sick beds, only Poppy was awake. Knowing that Severus had kept the information about Harry's disappearance from her in order not to worsen her already bad condition, Minerva tried to put up a cherish expression and sat down next to her friend's bed. "How are you feeling, Poppy?" she asked, placing a hand on Poppy's forehead, which felt still very hot.

"A bit bedder," Poppy croaked hoarsely, letting out a harsh cough.

"That's very good," Minerva replied, taking the fever thermometer from the night stand.

"Doe," Poppy groaned, "I dow dat I still hab a feber, bud dob beed do…"

"Oh yes, we need to take your temperature, so open up please," Minerva said sternly, helping her friend to sit up a bit so that she was able to breath as she sounded very congested, and slid the thermometer into her mouth. While they were waiting for the reading, she called a house elf and ordered chicken broth for Poppy and a normal breakfast for Harry.

"Thirty-nine point eight; that's a slight improvement," Minerva told her friend, handing her the potions that Severus had laid out for her on the night table before she forced Poppy to eat her soup. "Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked and stood up to tend to Harry.

Harry however didn't stir, not even when she put her hand on his forehead. Remembering what Severus had told her about the child's condition, she wondered if she should just let the boy sleep. "Poppy, Harry's still asleep. Do I need to wake him, or can we just let him sleep?"

"His cobditiob hadb't worsebed, has id?" Poppy asked, concerned, and Minerva shook her head.

"No, he is still warm to the touch but I think he's not as hot as he was yesterday."

"Then just let him sleep. I will take care of him, Minerva. No, I promise that I won't get up," she added, seeing her friend's glare.

However, when Minerva returned at lunchtime, Harry was still asleep, and Poppy was watching him from her bed, a very concerned expression on her face. "Minerva, please wake him up; something is not right. Mr. Potter normally doesn't sleep much during the day."

Minerva placed her hand on Poppy's forehead, noticing with relief that her skin felt slightly cooler than before, and sighed. "Poppy, Harry apparently had a fight with Severus last night and went to sleep very late, at two o' clock or so. He told me that he had to give the child a very strong fever reducer during the night. Maybe that's the reason for his long sleep."

Poppy groaned. "You know that Severus is a good friend but his bedside manners are horrible. He should know better than to fight with my patients."

"Ah but I know for a fact that it was Harry's fault," Minerva told her friend and proceeded to take her temperature in spite of Poppy's protests, nodding contentedly at the result. She watched Poppy grudgingly eat her soup and take her potions and finally walked over to Harry's bed. "Harry, it's time to wake up," she called out to the child in a very soft voice, placing her hand on his forehead at the same time.

Harry lazily opened his eyes and groaned. "Need headache potion, please," he whispered to Minerva through half-closed eyes, a painful expression clouding his eyes.

"Poppy, may I give him the headache potion before taking his temperature? He seems to be in a lot of pain," Minerva called over to her friend urgently.

"Yes, obly dis ode tibe you bay," Poppy replied shortly and couldn't help wondering what was wrong with her patient.

"Thank you, Professor," Harry sighed in relief after gulping down the potion. "That's much better." Seeing that the teacher picked up the thermometer from the night stand, he quickly closed his eyes, pretending to fall asleep again.

"No Mr. Potter. You will open up now," Minerva said sternly, thinking that Poppy's job was much harder than her own.

"I'g gide, go geed da abybo," Harry complained around the thermometer, making Minerva and Poppy glare at him.

"Show be please," Poppy called out to Minerva when she retrieved the thermometer from Harry. "thirty-nine point three, dat's worse dab yesterday," she croaked flabbergasted, feeling that her own fever rose as she got upset.

"Harry will be fine, Poppy. Remember, he didn't get his potions in the morning, and as I told you he had a big fight with Severus last night. Go back to sleep, Poppy; as you see we need you badly," she added smiling, watching her friend closing her eyes, falling asleep within seconds. Minerva turned back to Harry and forced the child to eat a few bites of his breakfast before she hurriedly left the hospital wing to teach her next class.

Harry sat up and grudgingly started to write his lines for Professor Snape, wondering if the teachers could really assign such a work to sick students. He had already completed the first hundred sentences when Poppy started to talk in her sleep, apparently captured in a fever induced nightmare. Harry got up as fast as he could without fainting and stepped over, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right, Madam Pomfrey, wake up; it's only a dream," he said calmingly and went to fetch a new bowl with cold water to sponge the Healer's flushed face, glad that Poppy stirred at the cold touch. "It's all right, go back to sleep," he told her softly, adjusting the cool cloth to her forehead. When her eyes closed again, he fetched his parchments and quill and took his place in the chair at Poppy's bedside and continued writing his sentences, trying his best to ignore his pounding head.

Although Harry spent a bit of time helping Poppy sit up and drink water or trying to cool her down, he had already managed to write three hundred lines by the time Minerva showed up. "Mr. Potter, what do you think you're doing?" she asked flabbergasted, completely forgetting to keep her voice at bay.

"Professor Snape told me to write this sentence five hundred times," Harry replied quietly, adding, "I've just finished about three hundred."

Minerva and Poppy exchanged an upset glance and Minerva extended her hand to Harry. "Please hand your parchment over to me, Mr. Potter. You're not allowed to do any more lines during the next two days, and I will write that down for you to show to Professor Snape."

Harry gave her an astonished look but obediently handed over the parchment and returned to his bed. '_I'd like to know if Snape will spend the evening here again_,' Harry thought but didn't dare ask. '_I can't run away anyway, but maybe I can ask McGonagall for a sleeping potion, so that I'll be asleep while he's here_.' When Minerva came over and sat down on the edge of his bed after talking to Poppy for a few minutes, Harry quickly asked, "Will Professor Snape come here again today?"

Minerva sighed and replied, "Yes, Harry, he will come in a few minutes and stay during the evening. I'm sorry, but you will have to arrange yourself with him."

"There's nothing that I can do about it; he hates me, he even hates me more than my relatives," Harry blurted out, feeling very desperate. "Can you perhaps give me a sleeping potion, Professor?"

Minerva let out another sigh and turned to her friend. "Can we give Mr. Potter a sleeping potion, Poppy?"

Poppy thought for a moment. '_A Dreamless sleep potion won't do Harry good with his concussion that obviously didn't improve at all while I've been ill. On the other hand, after all that Minnie told me about his fight with Severus, perhaps I should give him a light sleeping potion laced with a sip of a calming draught. Yes, that's it_,' she decided and sat up determinedly. "Yes, Miberba, I will get hib sobedig." Before Minerva could voice her protest that was on the verge of leaving her mouth, she added, "Sorry, but I hab to do dat by byself."

"No, Madam Pomfrey, it's all right, I don't need it. Please stay in bed and rest," Harry quickly threw in, knowing that she was still very ill.

However, Poppy got up slowly, grateful that her friend steadied her for a moment, and mixed the potion in her office. "Obly let hib drigk half of de phial dow, add leab de phial ob de dight stadd, so dat Severus bill dow what he has takeb."

Minerva complied, and a few minutes later, Harry was sound asleep. However, after a few hours of peaceful dreams, his sleep became more and more disturbed.

_Harry felt someone point a wand to his head, and a voice mumbled, "Over forty is not good. Maybe we will have to send him to St. Mungo's."_

"_What's St. Mangos?" Harry asked confused._

_He heard a few whispers and a hissed "No" in Hermione's voice, before Ron finally told him, "St. Mango's a lion that takes everyone that can do Math over forty to Ravenclaw."_

"_Ah, but maybe that's better than here; do they have a fireplace there? It's absolutely freezing here. Have to build a snowman; can you help me, Ron?" Harry gave back and saw in horror that his friend turned into a roaring lion._

"_No, that's not a lion, Harry, look, it has wings. That's a griffin like in Gryffindor," Hermione told him._

"_Ye, but it's breathing fire," Harry mumbled back. "Can you get me a penguin? Need to cool down, so hot here."_

He suddenly woke up with a jerk to something icy on his forehead. Instantly, he knew that he felt worse than ever before. Not only his head, but his whole body was sore, and his eyes were so swollen that he couldn't open them. His teeth were chattering from the cold, while he had the impression that he was burning from inside. "Harry?" he suddenly recognized Poppy's soft voice talking to him.

"Don' feel good," he mumbled back, slurring the words, and turned his head into the voice's direction.

"Can you open your mouth for me for a moment please," Poppy told him and slid the thermometer under his tongue before she added softly, "I know that your teeth are chattering, but try not to bite the glass if you can help it, so that you don't hurt yourself." She gathered a few spare blankets and wrapped the shivering boy tightly into the blankets, ignoring his protests.

"Mummy," Harry began to whine in a very small voice as soon as the Healer took out the thermometer. "Wan' my mummy."

"Yes, sweetie, let me see what we can do," Poppy replied absentmindedly, giving the thermometer a horrified look. "Hold on, child, I'll be back in a minute," she told Harry and hurried over to the fireplace. "Severus, I need you to come here immediately!" she shouted into the fireplace before he let herself fall into the chair in her office, groggily.

A minute later, Severus swept into the room, glaring at Poppy. "What are you doing out of bed? I thought I made myself clear when I told you that it'll take at least two more days until…"

"Yes, I know and I'd be glad if you helped me back to bed, but I need you to look after Harry. He has a fever of over forty-one degrees!"

Severus gasped. "Come on then, let's get you back to bed first." He guided Poppy back to bed, while he steadied her, noticing the heat she radiated, and hurried over to Harry's side.

"forty-one point five it is actually," he mumbled, more to himself than to Poppy, and cast several diagnostic spells on the child. "Yes, he caught the wizards' flu from you, Poppy, and I suppose that it's the combination of the flu and his concussion that makes his fever so high, isn't it?"

"Probably yes; can you give him the flu potion and the strong fever reducer please?" his friend answered, and Severus gave her a comforting nod, already summoning the potions into his outstretched hands.

Severus sat down on the edge of Harry's bed. "Potter, can you…" he started to address the boy, noticing that the child started to whimper quietly at the sound of his voice. He sighed deeply and, thinking of Lily, he tried again. "Harry, can you hear me?" he asked in a very soft, silky voice."

"Um," Harry let out weakly.

"You're very ill, Harry. Can you drink these two potions for me? They'll make you better in a blink," he coaxed the child into taking the potions, seeing that he relaxed a little. "Feeling a bit better now?" he asked softly, brushing back an errant strand of hair from the child's forehead.

"Ye… hatchoo, hatchoo, heesshoo," Harry replied miserably.

"Can you open your eyes for me, child?"

Harry slightly opened his eyes, only to back up, terrified, noticing to whom the nice, calming voice belonged. "It's all right, I won't do anything to you, but I have to examine you. Madam Pomfrey already has aggravated her condition by looking after you during the night," Severus told the child, trying to stay as calm as possible. He lit the tip of his wand and peered closely into Harry's eyes before he gave the boy a small nod and pointed his wand to Harry's head, seeing that his fever had dropped a degree.

"Is Badab Pobfrey all right?" Harry whispered, concerned that the Healer had worsened her condition because of him.

"I'm going to check on her now, but she will be all right," Severus promised, putting a cold cloth on the child's burning forehead. "However, your condition is much worse, considering that you've efficiently added the flu to your concussion. If you do as much as even one step out of that bed, I shall use your limbs as potions ingredients."

"Doe sir, I bob't," Harry croaked hoarsely, wondering if he was captured in a fevered dream. '_It can't be real when Snape is so nice to me_,' he thought, confused.

Severus quickly checked on Poppy and made her drink a few potions before he sat down on the chair between the two beds, determined to keep an eye on his two patients until Minerva would join them in the morning. He had filled in the patients' cards on the night tables and selected the potions Poppy and Harry would need until he'd be able to check on them again during his free period in the afternoon, when Harry suddenly started to thrash around and mumble in a hoarse and hardly understandable voice. "Doe, Ubcle, I will do by chores dow, I'b sorry, doe, please dob't!"

The teacher quietly moved over to sit on the edge of Harry's bed, listening to his student's words for a few minutes, before he placed a cold hand on the boy's hot forehead, making the child wake up startled. "It's all right; that was only a nightmare, you are safe at Hogwarts," he whispered into the boy's ear in a soft, calming voice, seeing that the child slowly relaxed. However, a few tears managed to escape his glassy, green eyes, and for the first time, Severus began to feel sorry for the boy. "Harry," he said hesitantly, while he carefully wiped away the tears with the cold cloth, and when he was sure that he held the child's attention as far as that was possible in his condition, he continued, "When you feel better, we'll have a talk about your relatives, all right?"

"kay," Harry mumbled back and unconsciously leaned into the cool touch.

Unbeknownst to Harry, the teacher witnessed three more fevered dreams concerning Harry's relatives, before Minerva arrived an hour before breakfast. Minerva was extremely surprised to see Severus sitting next to Harry and even more confused when the younger teacher waved her over into Poppy's office, closing the door after them. "Good morning, Severus; what's wrong?" she asked, slightly concerned.

"Potter caught the flu and is in a very bad shape, and Poppy obviously spent a while at his side during the night, and her fever spiked as well. Minerva, we need someone, who can care for Potter and Poppy during the day since none of them is in a condition to take care of the other."

Minerva gave her younger colleague a surprised look. "Oh my, Severus, you nearly sound as if you actually cared about them."

"Minerva, Potter had a temperature of more than forty-one degrees, and Poppy of more than forty. I believe that is reason enough to worry. Don't you think so?" he asked snidely.

Minerva let out a huge gasp. "Okay, Severus, I'm sorry. Are they better now?"

Severus gave her a reassuring nod. "A bit, yes, but they will still need days to get better."

"There are only three more days of classes until the summer holidays, so I suppose we could ask one or two of the students. They won't miss too much during these last days, and we can also ask the teachers, who have free periods during these days."

"Yes, I've one class in the afternoon, then I'm free," Severus agreed.

"And I have a free period directly after lunch, so that means that we only need someone to stay with them during the morning today." Minerva pulled a tissue out of her robe pocket and tapped it with her wand, mumbling an incantation to transfigure into a parchment with the lesson plans of all the teachers. Together, they examined the plan, realizing that none of the teachers had a free class during the morning. "All right, then I'll just have to ask my Gryffindors," Minerva stated, and Severus gave her a confirming nod.

"You can ask them during breakfast; however, I need to cast the spell on the students that prevents them from getting the flu."

Before Minerva could reply, they heard a small cry coming from Harry's direction, and both teachers hurried over to his bedside, where the boy was thrashing around, holding both hands against his scar that seemed livid red against his face that was white as a sheet except for his flushed cheeks.

Minerva sat down on the edge of Harry's bed and tried to wake the child up from his nightmare by cautiously placing a hand on his hot cheek, while Severus adjusted the refreshed cold cloth on his forehead, carefully prying Harry's hand away from his scar. Only seconds later, Harry slightly opened his eyes, caught sight of his two teachers, and relaxed. "I'b sorry," he apologized before he let out a few harsh coughs, followed by a series of sneezes. "Atchoo, atchoo, heesshoo."

"You don't have to be sorry, Mr. Potter; is there anything I can do for you?" Minerva asked, worried.

"Water," Harry croaked, founding that his throat felt very sore and raw.

Minerva quietly helped him to sit up for a moment, and Harry felt that his head was swimming and quickly closed his eyes, while he greedily gulped down the water Minerva had handed him.

"Let me have a look into your throat please," Severus demanded. "That sounded very sore."

Harry obediently opened his mouth and let Severus peer closely into his mouth with the help of the lit tip of his wand. "Yes, it's very inflamed," he stated finally, helping the child to lie down again, and promised, "I will go and retrieve a healing salve from my lab; I'll be back in a few minutes." He quickly waved his wand over Harry to check on him and repeated the procedure with Poppy, before he stepped into the fireplace in Poppy's office. A few minutes later, he returned, carrying a small box with several phials. He took a small jar and sat down on the edge of Harry's bed, while Minerva went over to Poppy, who was just waking up.

"Mr. Potter, this might be a bit uncomfortable but it should help your throat," Severus talked to the boy in a soft voice, and Harry slightly opened his eyes, giving the teacher an anxious look. "This is a healing salve against throat infections, and I'd like to spread a bit of it in your mouth with my wand."

Harry obediently opened his mouth once more and closed his eyes, trying to relax. '_I hope he'll be finished soon. If Snape says it's uncomfortable, it must be really bad_,' Harry mused and nearly gagged when he felt the teacher's wand in his mouth. Only seconds later, however, he noticed that the cream felt very nice and soothing against his raw throat. Harry opened his eyes a little and whispered, "Thagk you, Pfessor. Cab you do dat to by head too?"

Severus gave him a thoughtful glance. "Is your head very sore?"

"Yes," Harry whispered.

Severus glanced at his watch. It was much too early for the next dose of potion. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, I can't give you the potion for your concussion yet again. That will have to wait another two hours, but I can give you a normal pain-relieving potion." He summoned a phial and held it to Harry's lips, watching the child closely.

"Bit better," Harry told him gratefully.

"All right, Mr. Potter; Professor McGonagall and I have to head to the Great Hall now, but we will send someone up to watch you and Madam Pomfrey until the end of the morning classes. Afterwards, Professor McGonagall and I will take turns looking after you. Please stay in bed at any case and do as you're told."

"Yes, I will; dagk you, Pfessor," Harry replied groggily and lazily closed his eyes. He was already asleep before the professors had left the room.

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Down in the Great Hall, Minerva stepped over to the Gryffindor table, standing behind Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, and threw a Silencing Charm around the table. "I need someone, who is willing to spend the morning in the hospital wing in order to take care of Mr. Potter and Madam Pomfrey, who are both very ill…"

"I'd like to do that," Ginny spoke up quickly.

"I can help too," Hermione followed immediately.

"Very well, Ms. Weasley, Ms. Granger, thank you very much. Please come over to the Head table as soon as you have finished eating," Minerva replied, gratefully cancelling the Silencing Spell, before she walked over to the teachers' table, sitting down between Albus and Severus.

Only a few minutes later, Hermione and Ginny approached their Head of House, who motioned them to follow her and Professor Snape to the hospital wing. Just before they entered the wing, Severus put the spell on the two girls that made them immune to the illness Poppy and Harry were suffering from. Then Minerva entered the hospital wing together with her students and led them over to the two patients, showing them the patient cards on the night tables, where they could find information if needed, as well as a parchment next to each card, on which Severus had made exact notes for them, telling them in detail what had to be done at which time.

Seeing that Ginny and Hermione exchanged an uncertain glance, Minerva suggested, "As it is nearly time for their check-up and potions as well as breakfast, maybe you should take their temperature first, which is the hardest job since they absolutely hate it, then you make them drink their potions and call a house-elf for breakfast."

"All right, um… can we call Dobby, Professor? We don't know any other house elves," Ginny asked hesitantly, while Hermione shifted uncomfortably from one foot onto the other.

"I can do that but then I have to leave. I'll be back straight after the last morning lesson," the teacher relented and called Dobby, asking him to bring chicken soup for Poppy and Harry.

"Of course, Mistress Professor McGonagall, Dobby wills brings soup for Mistress Healer Pomfrey and Master Harry Potter immediately," Dobby replied enthusiastically, bowing deeply before he popped away.

Minerva stepped over to Poppy and woke her up. "Poppy, Ms. Weasley and Ms. Granger will be looking after you and Harry during the morning. Please stay in bed and do what they say," she spoke to her best friend like to a student, ignoring the two girls' chuckles. As soon as Poppy opened her mouth to reply, she stuck the thermometer into her mouth, making the girls throw Poppy a pitying look. "I will leave for my classes now; if you have any problems, please do not pester Madam Pomfrey but Floo-call Professor Snape during the breaks between classes or if it is urgent even during class."

"Yes Professor," both girls chorused and turned back to their patients. "Will you sit with Madam Pomfrey, and I try to wake Harry?" Ginny suggested, and Hermione sat down on the chair next to Poppy's bed, quietly bathing the healer's face with a cool cloth.

"How are you feeling, Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione asked softly, while she took back the thermometer, frowning at the reading.

"Much better," Poppy replied hoarsely. "I don't feel so congested anymore, and my throat doesn't hurt so much. But I feel much more feverish than yesterday, and my head and eyes are very sore."

"I believe that; a fever of forty degrees is very high and must be uncomfortable," Hermione replied and helped Poppy to sit up in order to drink the potions and her soup.

At the same time, Ginny was trying to rouse a very sleepy Harry. "Hey, sweetie, can you wake up for a few minutes, just for me?" she asked, slightly shaking his shoulder without success. "He won't wake up," she complained, giving Hermione a helpless glance.

"Let me have a look," Poppy croaked, already sliding her soup aside.

"Oh no, no, no, you won't leave your bed, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione protested immediately, adding, "I already know how to apply a Stunning Spell, and as I have instructions to keep you in bed, I won't hesitate to…"

"Ah yes, all right," Poppy replied, pushing the soup away to lie down again. "Nevertheless, I'm very worried about Harry; he's much worse than I because he has a bad concussion and this horrible flu at the same time."

"Yes, but it's all right; Ginny will look after him. Please try not to talk too much, and perhaps you could sleep for a while?" Hermione asked calmingly, adjusting the cool cloth to the Healer's forehead.

"Thank you very much, Ms. Granger," Poppy replied tiredly, her eyes already closing.

Ginny was still busy trying to rouse Harry. Finally, she managed to wake him up by placing a cold hand on his burning forehead, shouting, "Harry" into his ear at the same time. "Hey, sweetie, how are you feeling?" she asked softly.

"Cold," Harry replied, shivering, "add hot, add sore, add I didb't do by hobework, hab to fight a Griddylow to hab Sirius cob back like de grib. Ab I dying, Pfessor? Feel so bad."

"Shush now, sweetie, you're not dying, you don't have to fight a Grindylow, nor do any homework. You're only very ill, and I need you to sit up for a moment." Ginny quietly helped him sit up, made him blow his nose, and quickly stuck the thermometer into his mouth. "Shush, shush, I know that you don't like it, sweetie," she continued when he tried to protest weakly around the thermometer. "But I have instructions from Professor Snape to check your temperature every hour since it is dangerously high; so you better get used to it." Seeing that Harry was swaying, she quickly climbed onto his bed, sitting behind him, so that he could lean onto her and she could carefully stroke his hot cheeks.

"No, sweetie, you have to stay awake for me, it won't take long," Ginny said urgently, seeing that Harry's head was slowly falling to the side. She sight inwardly when she pulled Harry back into a sitting position and positioned the thermometer properly once more. "Forty-one point four," she read, horrified, put the thermometer away and made Harry drink his potions and two spoons full of soup before she helped him lie down. "Go to sleep, sweetie, I'm going to stay here right with you," she told him softly, watching as he closed his eyes. Ginny carefully bathed his face and finally adjusted the cloth on her friend's forehead before she turned to Hermione, who had been watching them in concern.

Harry wearily listened to Ginny's voice. He felt so horrible today; even when he had been staying with the Dursleys, he had never felt so ill before. However, Ginny's voice was very soothing, even if the meaning of her words didn't penetrate his foggy mind. Suddenly, he felt that she put ice onto his forehead, so that he anxiously opened his eyes, only feeling himself being pushed into a sitting position in spite of feeling much too dizzy to sit up. He tiredly leaned into the girl and nearly gagged when she put an icy thing into his mouth. Letting his tired head slide to the side, he hoped to get rid of the ice in his mouth that made his teeth chatter, but the girl sitting behind him wouldn't have it and made him sit up and endure the annoying thing longer. When he was finally released, he went back to sleep immediately, ready to watch a few dreams.

_Ginny and Harry were sitting in the library, doing their homework, when Hermione joined them and said urgently, "You have to help me. I'm doing research about an ice breathing dragon. There must be one book in the forbidden section, but we have to get it."_

_Harry summoned his broom, let Hermione sit in front of him and Ginny behind him, and flew them over into the forbidden section of the library, where he mumbled an incantation to summon a book containing information about an ice breathing dragon. A large book came flying over to them, and Hermione quickly cast a protection Charm on them, so that they weren't hit by the book and it landed on her hands smoothly. As they looked through the book, suddenly a small, green dragon escaped and sat down on the next table._

_Harry watched horrified that the dragon's size increased every second, and soon a huge dragon was standing in front of them, breathing huge waves of ice onto them until they were completely covered with ice and he felt cold and soaking wet._

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Severus was just teaching his second class, a mixed class of Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh years with only a few students, who were all very responsible and adept at Potions. Suddenly, the fireplace in his classroom flared, and Hermione's head appeared in the flames. "Professor, you have to come to the hospital wing immediately," the girl shouted, obviously panicking.

Severus quickly stepped through the Floo, following Hermione to Harry's bed. The child was thrashing around, whimpering and shivering vehemently, pushing Ginny's hands away as well as the thermometer she tried to slide into his mouth. He quickly pointed his wand at the boy's head and took his temperature. "Forty-two degrees," he gasped. "Back away," he told the girls, and with a flick of his wand he transfigured Harry's bed into a bathtub, filled with cold water, the coldest possible without sending the child into shock.

A series of wet sneezes escaping from his mouth finally brought Harry out of his dream. He felt himself shivering violently and angrily pushed the icy hands and things around him away. "Atchoo, atchoo, heesshoo, heesshoo, atchoo, atchoo, atchoo," he sneezed again, followed by a few harsh coughs that made his chest sore. Suddenly, Harry noticed that the dragon had stopped breathing ice and had proceeded to breathe fire at him, and he started thrashing around, pushing his blankets and everything else away once more until he felt a cold phial pressed against his lips.

"Swallow, Harry," a soft voice told him, and Harry could feel that a kind hand helped his sore throat to swallow an icy-cool liquid.

Suddenly, the dragon vanished, and Harry anxiously opened his eyes, looking straight into his Potions teacher's obsidian eyes. "De dragob?" Harry whispered frightened.

The professor gave him a sharp look. "Do you feel a bit better?"

"Yes, de dragob is gone, not breadigg ice or fire abybore," Harry replied hoarsely.

"You thought a dragon breathed ice and fire at you?" Severus asked, pointing his wand at the child's head once more.

"How high?" Poppy croaked worriedly.

"Forty point six," Severus told his colleague. "Ten points to Gryffindor, Ms. Granger, for fetching me so quickly; you probably saved Mr. Potter's life. Now, I have to return to my classroom; take his temperature again as soon as you have a chance to do so without being killed by Mr. Potter; if necessary you can take his temperature under his armpit," he told the girls and strode back to the fireplace.

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After a very quick lunch, Minerva returned to the hospital wing and quickly dismissed the students until the next morning after breakfast. "Thank you very much, Miss Granger and Miss Weasley; twenty points each for Gryffindor for doing us a big favour."

"Thank you, Professor," the girls replied happily, and Ginny quickly placed a kiss onto Harry's flushed cheek before they left the hospital wing at the same time when Severus strode in.

Severus quickly filled Minerva in on what had happened and checked on Harry and Poppy before he left again, only to come back an hour later. During the afternoon, Harry drifted in and out of his fever-induced dreams and nightmares, and until dinnertime, his condition hadn't improved at all. Severus once more led Minerva into Poppy's office, throwing a Silencing Charm around them. "Minerva, I'm very concerned about the boy's home life. Do you know anything about his family?"

Minerva sighed. "As far as I have watched twelve years ago, they are absolutely horrible, the worst Muggles I've ever met," she answered truthfully.

"If you read Poppy's notes and findings about Potter carefully, you'll notice that he is obviously not only neglected but also abused at his relatives' home. You can find some information about bones that had been broken before and had obviously been left to improperly mend by themselves. He also seems to have bruises and welts on different parts of his body each time he returns to Hogwarts. Moreover he's been having fever-induced nightmares all day, and about half of them concerned his relatives. He has even let out a few things to prove that he has been abused and neglected, things that he would probably have never confirmed if not for the high fever."

Seeing that Minerva was listening in concern, he continued, "He is so ill that he can't return there on Saturday in any case. Potter told me that he has never been to a doctor or a Healer before coming to Hogwarts and that until then all injuries and illnesses had to mend on their own. Even if he was ill he had to do chores from morning till evening. If he returned to that home in his momentary condition, even if it improved a lot until Saturday, he wouldn't survive the next month."

Minerva sighed. "What do you suggest then, Severus? We could keep him at Hogwarts until his condition improves a bit, but that won't be enough if he doesn't have a caring parent willing to look after him during the next weeks."

"We should talk to Albus, Minerva. You don't want the child to go back there, do you?"

"No, of course not, Severus; let's speak with Albus and try to convince him otherwise."

During the night, Severus stayed in the hospital wing with Harry and Poppy in order to keep an eye on Harry, whose condition had yet to improve. He placed a charm on his two patients in order to be alerted when any of them woke up, was in distress, or when their fever became too high. Harry remained delirious during most of the night, and the spell alerted Severus three times, twice when he was thrashing around in fevered nightmares and once when his fever spiked again, so that Severus had to put Harry in a cold bath to lower his temperature again.

Harry felt absolutely awful. He woke up from a nightmare, violently shivering, feeling as if he was burning in the next instant, and suddenly his teacher was standing in front of him, transfiguring his bed into a bathtub. "What are you doigg?" Harry croaked horrified. "Do you wabt to kill be? Atchoo, atchoo, heesshoo, heesshoo, atchoo."

"No, Mr. Potter, I'm trying to save your life," Severus answered as calmly as possible considering the fact that the child's fever had reached a critical mark again. He quickly transfigured the boy's soaked pyjamas into swimming trunks, receiving a glare from the child, while he waited for the child's temperature to drop, pointing his wand at Harry's head every couple of seconds.

Harry only relaxed when the teacher transfigured the bathtub back into his bed, noticing that the bed was much more comfortable than it had been before, at least until he was dried and dressed into fresh pyjamas and felt a heat wave overrun him. He tried to push the blankets away, but the professor was much stronger than him and wouldn't allow it but forced him to sweat until he saw the dragon breathing ice again.

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The next two days passed in the same way. Poppy's condition had improved a lot; however, Harry was still very ill. On Friday afternoon, Hermione and Ginny were again looking after the two patients. The teachers had decided not to tell Poppy how worried they were about Harry. However, Hermione and Ginny didn't know that and even if they hadn't spoken to Poppy about their friend in order not to make her worry, they openly talked about Harry while he was asleep, not noticing that Poppy had woken up and was listening intensely.

"Miss Granger, would you please be so kind and show me Mr. Potter's card?" Poppy suddenly queried with a concerned expression on her flushed face.

Hermione closed her eyes for an instant. '_Oh no_,' she mused, '_how could we talk about Harry without casting a Silencing Spell?_' She reluctantly stood up and handed the card to Poppy, who looked horrified at the numbers on the parchments.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Granger, but I just have to get up and check on him," Poppy apologized in a voice that didn't allow any objection. She stood up and walked over to his bedside, sitting down on the edge of his bed, and waved her wand at the child several times.

The two girls watched anxiously how the Healer's expression became more concerned with each Spell she cast. "What's wrong with him?" Ginny asked worriedly, not being able to watch any longer.

Poppy sighed. "His condition is not good at all. His body was obviously too overwhelmed fighting his concussion and the flu, which was a bad case as well, at the same time. That's what caused and still causes the high fever. However, since his body was unable to heal either of the two problems the flu has turned into pneumonia. Fortunately, Professor Snape has a very good recipe for a potion against lung infections, which he'll hopefully be able to brew tonight. That should help him. However, if my assumption is correct, it will take at least a month until he'll be fully recovered."

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A few hours later, Minerva was sitting on the edge of Harry's bed, bathing the child's hot face with a cold cloth, while she was worriedly waiting for the reading of his temperature. Harry had just woken up from another fevered dream and was deliriously talking about the horns that his relatives were spiking as well as about their purple, red, and pink eyes. He also told Minerva about their pet dragons, and that he had to teach the dragons how to do math. When he worriedly pointed at the window and asked, "Do you see the dragon over there, Pfessor? It's breathing ice; I don't like that; and the one over there…" he pointed to the next bed, "… that's breathing fire. Didn't it hit you? It's so hot, no… cold?" He shivered violently, making Minerva get really worried, so that she strictly interrupted the child's delirious talking by sliding the thermometer into back his mouth. In the meantime, Harry had taken it out three times in order to cough, sneeze, or to continue his feverish talking, so that they had to start over again twice. "forty-one point nine," Minerva groaned horrified and quickly transfigured the child's bed into a bathtub for the umpteenth time.

Minerva felt as if she had never been more relieved to see Severus than when she showed up five minutes later. "Oh no, taking a bath again, Potter?" he spoke to the child, raising an eyebrow, while he pointed his wand at the boy's head and stated, "Forty point eight; that should do it for the moment." As soon as Harry was back in his bed, Severus made him drink the newly brewed potion followed by a Dreamless sleep potion.

"Thank God," Minerva blurted out, relieved, when Harry's eyes closed only seconds later.

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When Harry woke up in the morning, Poppy was sitting on the edge of his bed, smiling down at him. "Now, are you feeling a bit better, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry replied reluctantly as he still felt awful.

"You will be released from here today, Harry, as I have to leave the castle today for two weeks in order to attend my niece's wedding," Poppy started to explain, when Harry suddenly burst into tears.

"Do I have to go back to my relatives today?" he asked quietly, and Poppy watched worriedly that he started to shiver badly.

"Please calm down immediately if you don't want to end up in a bathtub so soon again," she quickly advised the child, adjusting the cool cloth back on his forehead. "No, sweetheart, you are much too ill to go back to your relatives. You will spend the holidays together with Professor Snape in his quarters, at least while you're so ill and I'm away."

"With Professor Snape?" Harry asked incredulously, coughing harshly.

"Harry, I know that you don't like Professor Snape, but he only wants what's best for you, and I believe he has saved your life several times this week. I think you'll be able to arrange yourself with him, especially as your health is more important than other things. Moreover, Professor Snape will be the only teacher remaining in the castle except for Professor Dumbledore and me until Madam Pomfrey returns, and neither Professor Dumbledore nor I have any Healing knowledge," Minerva, who had just arrived, said sternly.

"Atchoo, atchoo, atchoo, heesshoo, heesshoo," Harry sneezed, shivering. "I don't have a problem with Professor Snape. He was really nice during these days, and at least he is a million times better than my so-called 'family'."

"We're all your family now, Harry; you know that, don't you?" Minerva asked, carefully stroking the child's flushed cheeks, watching in relief as Harry drifted back to sleep with a small smile playing on his lips.

**The End**

_

* * *

I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them._

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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